Sovereign Grace - Revision history

Pcain: Protected "Sovereign Grace" ([edit=sysop] (indefinite) [move=sysop] (indefinite))

2010-09-30T13:47:45Z

Protected "Sovereign Grace" ([edit=sysop] (indefinite) [move=sysop] (indefinite))

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Mahra: moved Sovereign Grace and the Glorious Mystery of Election to Sovereign Grace

2009-09-24T02:22:16Z

moved Sovereign Grace and the Glorious Mystery of Election to Sovereign Grace

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Revision as of 02:22, 24 September 2009

JoyaTeemer at 20:23, 22 June 2009

2009-06-22T20:23:24Z

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JoyaTeemer at 16:37, 24 September 2008

2008-09-24T16:37:20Z

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JoyaTeemer at 16:22, 24 September 2008

2008-09-24T16:22:41Z

JoyaTeemer at 16:16, 24 September 2008

2008-09-24T16:16:06Z

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JoyaTeemer at 15:35, 24 September 2008

2008-09-24T15:35:15Z

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	Author James Cantelon presents this moving and insightful remembrance of his conversion experience:		Author James Cantelon presents this moving and insightful remembrance of his conversion experience:
-	<blockquote>“First impressions are lasting impressions.” So goes the old saying, and I suspect in most cases it is true. My first impression of God is with me to this day. It happened at a musty old church camp in Central Saskatchewan, Canada. I was five years old. Back in those days we were into tabernacles. Not only were most of our churches called tabernacles, but our camp meeting buildings were also given this Old Testament name for tent. On one especially hot day my parents were in the adult tabernacle and I, with my fellow junior campers, was in the children’s tabernacle. The teacher was taking us through Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress. As she taught, something sparked within me. After the lesson the children exploded into the sunshine to play. I lingered. Miss Brown seemed to know why. “Can I help you, Jimmy?” she asked gently. I nodded dumbly, biting my suddenly trembling lower lip, tears welling in my eyes. “Let’s go into the back room and pray,” she said. I can’t explain what happened....But I will say this: at age five I suddenly felt as though I were the worst sinner who had ever lived. My sense of sin nearly crushed my little heart. The prayer, however, had not ended. It began with remorse, it grew into joy. I felt this newly discovered burden lift from my fragile soul. The presence of God overwhelmed me. Without my looking for him, or asking for him—indeed, without any knowledge of my need of him—God came looking for me, asking for me...a five-year-old kid.<ref>James Cantelon, ''Theology for Non-Theologians''(New York, NY: Macmillan, 1988) p.3</ref></blockquote>	+	<blockquote>“First impressions are lasting impressions.” So goes the old saying, and I suspect in most cases it is true. My first impression of God is with me to this day. It happened at a musty old church camp in Central Saskatchewan, Canada. I was five years old.</blockquote><blockquote>Back in those days we were into tabernacles. Not only were most of our churches called tabernacles, but our camp meeting buildings were also given this Old Testament name for tent. On one especially hot day my parents were in the adult tabernacle and I, with my fellow junior campers, was in the children’s tabernacle. The teacher was taking us through Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress. As she taught, something sparked within me.</blockquote><blockquote>After the lesson the children exploded into the sunshine to play. I lingered. Miss Brown seemed to know why.</blockquote><blockquote>“Can I help you, Jimmy?” she asked gently. I nodded dumbly, biting my suddenly trembling lower lip, tears welling in my eyes.</blockquote><blockquote>“Let’s go into the back room and pray,” she said. I can’t explain what happened....But I will say this: at age five I suddenly felt as though I were the worst sinner who had ever lived. My sense of sin nearly crushed my little heart. The prayer, however, had not ended. It began with remorse, it grew into joy. I felt this newly discovered burden lift from my fragile soul. The presence of God overwhelmed me. Without my looking for him, or asking for him—indeed, without any knowledge of my need of him—God came looking for me, asking for me...a five-year-old kid.<ref>James Cantelon, ''Theology for Non-Theologians''(New York, NY: Macmillan, 1988) p.3</ref></blockquote>
	First impressions are indeed lasting impressions. Mr. Cantelon’s description of his conversion experience is revealing: “God came looking for me.” What is your understanding of your conversion experience? Who pursued whom? Did God come looking for you? Or does it seem that, in essence, you were pursuing God? What stands out the most to you: God’s initiative and intervention, or your repentance and faith? {{LeftInsert\|When I was coming to Christ, I thought I was doing it all myself, and though I sought the Lord earnestly, I had no idea the Lord was seeking me. I do not think the young convert is at first aware of this. I can recall the very day and hour when first I received those truths [of the doctrine of election] in my own soul—when they were as John Bunyan said, burnt into my heart as with a hot iron, and I can recollect how I felt that I had grown on a sudden from a babe into a man—that I had made progress in scriptural knowledge, through having found, once for all, the clue to the truth of God.		First impressions are indeed lasting impressions. Mr. Cantelon’s description of his conversion experience is revealing: “God came looking for me.” What is your understanding of your conversion experience? Who pursued whom? Did God come looking for you? Or does it seem that, in essence, you were pursuing God? What stands out the most to you: God’s initiative and intervention, or your repentance and faith? {{LeftInsert\|When I was coming to Christ, I thought I was doing it all myself, and though I sought the Lord earnestly, I had no idea the Lord was seeking me. I do not think the young convert is at first aware of this. I can recall the very day and hour when first I received those truths [of the doctrine of election] in my own soul—when they were as John Bunyan said, burnt into my heart as with a hot iron, and I can recollect how I felt that I had grown on a sudden from a babe into a man—that I had made progress in scriptural knowledge, through having found, once for all, the clue to the truth of God.

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JoyaTeemer at 15:31, 24 September 2008

2008-09-24T15:31:03Z

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	Author James Cantelon presents this moving and insightful remembrance of his conversion experience:		Author James Cantelon presents this moving and insightful remembrance of his conversion experience:
-		+	<blockquote>“First impressions are lasting impressions.” So goes the old saying, and I suspect in most cases it is true. My first impression of God is with me to this day. It happened at a musty old church camp in Central Saskatchewan, Canada. I was five years old. Back in those days we were into tabernacles. Not only were most of our churches called tabernacles, but our camp meeting buildings were also given this Old Testament name for tent. On one especially hot day my parents were in the adult tabernacle and I, with my fellow junior campers, was in the children’s tabernacle. The teacher was taking us through Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress. As she taught, something sparked within me. After the lesson the children exploded into the sunshine to play. I lingered. Miss Brown seemed to know why. “Can I help you, Jimmy?” she asked gently. I nodded dumbly, biting my suddenly trembling lower lip, tears welling in my eyes. “Let’s go into the back room and pray,” she said. I can’t explain what happened....But I will say this: at age five I suddenly felt as though I were the worst sinner who had ever lived. My sense of sin nearly crushed my little heart. The prayer, however, had not ended. It began with remorse, it grew into joy. I felt this newly discovered burden lift from my fragile soul. The presence of God overwhelmed me. Without my looking for him, or asking for him—indeed, without any knowledge of my need of him—God came looking for me, asking for me...a five-year-old kid.<ref>James Cantelon, ''Theology for Non-Theologians''(New York, NY: Macmillan, 1988) p.3</ref></blockquote>
-	“First impressions are lasting impressions.” So goes the old saying, and I suspect in most cases it is true. My first impression of God is with me to this day. It happened at a musty old church camp in Central Saskatchewan, Canada. I was five years old.	+	First impressions are indeed lasting impressions. Mr. Cantelon’s description of his conversion experience is revealing: “God came looking for me.” What is your understanding of your conversion experience? Who pursued whom? Did God come looking for you? Or does it seem that, in essence, you were pursuing God? What stands out the most to you: God’s initiative and intervention, or your repentance and faith? {{LeftInsert\|When I was coming to Christ, I thought I was doing it all myself, and though I sought the Lord earnestly, I had no idea the Lord was seeking me. I do not think the young convert is at first aware of this. I can recall the very day and hour when first I received those truths [of the doctrine of election] in my own soul—when they were as John Bunyan said, burnt into my heart as with a hot iron, and I can recollect how I felt that I had grown on a sudden from a babe into a man—that I had made progress in scriptural knowledge, through having found, once for all, the clue to the truth of God.
-		+
-	Back in those days we were into tabernacles. Not only were most of our churches called tabernacles, but our camp meeting buildings were also given this Old Testament name for tent. On one especially hot day my parents were in the adult tabernacle and I, with my fellow junior campers, was in the children’s tabernacle. The teacher was taking us through Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress. As she taught, something sparked within me.	+
-		+
-	After the lesson the children exploded into the sunshine to play. I lingered. Miss Brown seemed to know why.	+
-		+
-	“Can I help you, Jimmy?” she asked gently. I nodded dumbly, biting my suddenly trembling lower lip, tears welling in my eyes.	+
-		+
-	“Let’s go into the back room and pray,” she said. I can’t explain what happened....But I will say this: at age five I suddenly felt as though I were the worst sinner who had ever lived. My sense of sin nearly crushed my little heart. The prayer, however, had not ended. It began with remorse, it grew into joy. I felt this newly discovered burden lift from my fragile soul. The presence of God overwhelmed me. Without my looking for him, or asking for him—indeed, without any knowledge of my need of him—God came looking for me, asking for me...a five-year-old kid.<ref>James Cantelon, ''Theology for Non-Theologians''(New York, NY: Macmillan, 1988) p.3</ref> First impressions are indeed lasting impressions. Mr. Cantelon’s description of his conversion experience is revealing: “God came looking for me.” What is your understanding of your conversion experience? Who pursued whom? Did God come looking for you? Or does it seem that, in essence, you were pursuing God? What stands out the most to you: God’s initiative and intervention, or your repentance and faith?	+
-		+
-	{{LeftInsert\|When I was coming to Christ, I thought I was doing it all myself, and though I sought the Lord earnestly, I had no idea the Lord was seeking me. I do not think the young convert is at first aware of this. I can recall the very day and hour when first I received those truths [of the doctrine of election] in my own soul—when they were as John Bunyan said, burnt into my heart as with a hot iron, and I can recollect how I felt that I had grown on a sudden from a babe into a man—that I had made progress in scriptural knowledge, through having found, once for all, the clue to the truth of God.	+

	One week-night, when I was sitting in the house of God, I was not thinking much about the preacher’s sermon, for I did not believe it. The thought struck me, How did you come to be a Christian? I sought the Lord. But how did you come to seek the Lord?The truth flashed across my mind in a moment—I should not have ought him unless there had been some previous influence in my mind to make me seek him. I prayed, thought I, but then I asked myself, How came I to pray? I was induced to pray by reading the Scriptures. How came I to read the Scriptures?I did read them, but what led me to do so? Then, in a moment, I saw that God was at the bottom of it all, and that he was the Author of my faith, and so the doctrine of grace opened up to me, and from that doctrine I have not departed to this day, and I desire to make this my constant confession, “I ascribe my change wholly to God.”		One week-night, when I was sitting in the house of God, I was not thinking much about the preacher’s sermon, for I did not believe it. The thought struck me, How did you come to be a Christian? I sought the Lord. But how did you come to seek the Lord?The truth flashed across my mind in a moment—I should not have ought him unless there had been some previous influence in my mind to make me seek him. I prayed, thought I, but then I asked myself, How came I to pray? I was induced to pray by reading the Scriptures. How came I to read the Scriptures?I did read them, but what led me to do so? Then, in a moment, I saw that God was at the bottom of it all, and that he was the Author of my faith, and so the doctrine of grace opened up to me, and from that doctrine I have not departed to this day, and I desire to make this my constant confession, “I ascribe my change wholly to God.”
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JoyaTeemer at 15:25, 24 September 2008

2008-09-24T15:25:34Z

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	{{info}}''He chose us in him before the foundation of the world ''— Ephesians 1:4'''<br>'''		{{info}}''He chose us in him before the foundation of the world ''— Ephesians 1:4'''<br>'''

-	==== First Impressions ====	+	==== ''First Impressions'' ====

	Author James Cantelon presents this moving and insightful remembrance of his conversion experience:		Author James Cantelon presents this moving and insightful remembrance of his conversion experience:
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	—Charles Spurgeon<ref>Charles Spurgeon, ''A Defense of Calvinism'', www.spurgeon.org/calvinis.htm </ref> }}  These are not academic questions. The Christian who misunderstands or misinterprets the underlying cause of his or her conversion can be vulnerable to legalism, pride,self-reliance,ingratitude,condemnation,and lack of assurance. But when we rightly understand the nature of our conversion— that is, when we clearly grasp the role of God’s sovereign grace in election—we position ourselves to enjoy, in an ongoing way, the wonderfully life-transforming benefits that are available only through the gospel.		—Charles Spurgeon<ref>Charles Spurgeon, ''A Defense of Calvinism'', www.spurgeon.org/calvinis.htm </ref> }}  These are not academic questions. The Christian who misunderstands or misinterprets the underlying cause of his or her conversion can be vulnerable to legalism, pride,self-reliance,ingratitude,condemnation,and lack of assurance. But when we rightly understand the nature of our conversion— that is, when we clearly grasp the role of God’s sovereign grace in election—we position ourselves to enjoy, in an ongoing way, the wonderfully life-transforming benefits that are available only through the gospel.

-	==== Out of Our Depth ====	+	==== ''Out of Our Depth'' ====

	Election, of course, is a doctrine issuing from the deep end of the theological pool. As soon as we encounter it, we must all acknowledge that we are in way over our heads. This is a  place of mystery, a place that spawns a  hundred questions, all of them variations on a single question: “How do I reconcile divine  sovereignty with human responsibility?”		Election, of course, is a doctrine issuing from the deep end of the theological pool. As soon as we encounter it, we must all acknowledge that we are in way over our heads. This is a  place of mystery, a place that spawns a  hundred questions, all of them variations on a single question: “How do I reconcile divine  sovereignty with human responsibility?”
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	“We give our hand to every man that loves the Lord Jesus Christ, be he what he may or who Lord Jesus Christ, be he what he may or who he may. The doctrine of election, like the great act of election itself, is not intended to divide between Israel and Israel but between Israel and the Egyptians. Not between saint and saint, but between saints and the children of the world. A man may be evidently of God’s chosen family and yet, though elected, may not believe in the doctrine of election. I hold that there are many savingly called who do not believe in effectual calling and that there are a great many who persevere to the end who do not believe the doctrine of final perseverance. We do hope the hearts of many are a great deal better than their heads. We do not set their fallacies down to any willful opposition to the truth as it is in Jesus, but simply to an error in their judgment which we pray God to correct. We hope that if they think us mistaken, too, they will reciprocate the same Christian courtesy. And when we meet around the cross, we hope that we shall ever feel that we are one in Christ Jesus.”<ref>Iain Murray, ''Spurgeon vs. Hyper-Calvinism''(Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1995) pp.111-112</ref>}}		“We give our hand to every man that loves the Lord Jesus Christ, be he what he may or who Lord Jesus Christ, be he what he may or who he may. The doctrine of election, like the great act of election itself, is not intended to divide between Israel and Israel but between Israel and the Egyptians. Not between saint and saint, but between saints and the children of the world. A man may be evidently of God’s chosen family and yet, though elected, may not believe in the doctrine of election. I hold that there are many savingly called who do not believe in effectual calling and that there are a great many who persevere to the end who do not believe the doctrine of final perseverance. We do hope the hearts of many are a great deal better than their heads. We do not set their fallacies down to any willful opposition to the truth as it is in Jesus, but simply to an error in their judgment which we pray God to correct. We hope that if they think us mistaken, too, they will reciprocate the same Christian courtesy. And when we meet around the cross, we hope that we shall ever feel that we are one in Christ Jesus.”<ref>Iain Murray, ''Spurgeon vs. Hyper-Calvinism''(Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1995) pp.111-112</ref>}}

-	==== The Glorious Mystery ====	+	==== ''The Glorious Mystery'' ====

	Ephesians 1:4 is a definitive text for gaining a biblical understanding of one’s conversion experience. And while it is far from the only text on the subject of divine election, it is clear, authoritative, succinct, and sufficient for our present purposes. Here, despite the lingering presence of mystery, is clarity that the human mind can grasp firmly.		Ephesians 1:4 is a definitive text for gaining a biblical understanding of one’s conversion experience. And while it is far from the only text on the subject of divine election, it is clear, authoritative, succinct, and sufficient for our present purposes. Here, despite the lingering presence of mystery, is clarity that the human mind can grasp firmly.
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	Here is a rare biblical reference to something that God was doing before creation. He was choosing sinners like you and me. Prior to Genesis 1:1, we were singled out, selected for salvation. For me, this is brain-overload territory. I’m undone by the sovereign grace displayed in this phrase. The God whom I hated determined to save me and, in time, through the proclamation of the gospel, called me by name, declaring, “Stop. You will not go to hell. Instead, forgiveness of sins and infinite joy is yours in my Son.” And it was all decided before the foundation of the world.		Here is a rare biblical reference to something that God was doing before creation. He was choosing sinners like you and me. Prior to Genesis 1:1, we were singled out, selected for salvation. For me, this is brain-overload territory. I’m undone by the sovereign grace displayed in this phrase. The God whom I hated determined to save me and, in time, through the proclamation of the gospel, called me by name, declaring, “Stop. You will not go to hell. Instead, forgiveness of sins and infinite joy is yours in my Son.” And it was all decided before the foundation of the world.

-	==== Our Worthy Response ====	+	==== ''Our Worthy Response'' ====

	“When [Paul] introduces [election] into his teaching,” writes J.I. Packer, “it is for one end only—to help Christians see how great is the grace that has saved them, and to move them to a worthy response in worship and life.”<ref>J.I. Packer, ''God’s Words'', p.157</ref> Indeed, to hold to a biblical understanding of election is to live a life of “worthy response.” To learn that we were chosen before time enables us to live for him, in time, with joy, passion, and clarity of purpose that are rooted beyond time.		“When [Paul] introduces [election] into his teaching,” writes J.I. Packer, “it is for one end only—to help Christians see how great is the grace that has saved them, and to move them to a worthy response in worship and life.”<ref>J.I. Packer, ''God’s Words'', p.157</ref> Indeed, to hold to a biblical understanding of election is to live a life of “worthy response.” To learn that we were chosen before time enables us to live for him, in time, with joy, passion, and clarity of purpose that are rooted beyond time.
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JoyaTeemer at 21:19, 23 September 2008

2008-09-23T21:19:10Z

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